"There has been plenty of rain this year, and Cangzhou Green seems to taste even better." A tea merchant picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp, sighing with satisfaction.
"Yes, the more you drink this tea, the better it tastes. When I bought it last year, I only kept a little for myself, and I kept thinking about it after I finished drinking it. This year, I have to keep more," said another person.
Conversations like this are everywhere. Regardless of whether they are sincere or not, just seeing so many people coming to Cangzhou to buy tea before the Qingming Festival shows that Cangzhou Green has indeed gained a large number of loyal fans.
From picking to frying to storage, everything is done by the common people. After growing a lot of tea last year, the tea mountain was contracted to the village, and then distributed to the villagers by the village chief. The contract fee is not fixed, but it is 30% of the selling price of the village's tea. In other words, if the tea is valuable in the future, the contract fee will be high, and if the tea price drops, the contract fee will also decrease accordingly. This behavior of the government and the people sharing risks together makes them feel very safe, and they work harder. After all, the times are different now, and this is linked to their own interests.
In addition to tea, the iron mine business is also very good. Iron mines are government-run, and the buyers are usually local governments. After all, the weapons distributed according to government quotas are far from meeting actual needs, and things like ironware will rust and corrode after being used for a long time, and many are discarded every year. For the above reasons, the government generally has to purchase some ironware themselves.
The ironware produced in the Cangzhou Iron Mine is of good quality and cheaper than that in other places, making it the only choice for the government in the north.
Cartloads of ironware were shipped out, and boxes of silver were left behind. The bulk of the silver was sent to Liangjing every three months, and the rest was paid to the Cangzhou government office in the name of taxation. Except for some money that needed to be allocated for mine expenses, the rest was all used to build Cangzhou.
In just three short years, Cangzhou completed a qualitative leap. It changed from a poor and remote place known as Daliang to a prosperous place with iron mines and the famous tea town of the north.
As the top leader of Cangzhou, Pei Che is naturally popular among the people. Wherever he goes, he is praised by the people. The changes he brought to this place are so great that the officials from the Ministry of Personnel who came to evaluate him weighed the pros and cons and finally gave him an excellent rating in the three-yearly exam. Such an evaluation is sometimes not given once a year. If you get it, it means that you are likely to be promoted.
In the carriage, Jiang Miao looked through the curtain at the mountains gradually disappearing behind him, and couldn't help but feel reluctant to leave. After three years in Cangzhou, he had already gotten used to the local customs and climate. If Pei Che hadn't suddenly received a transfer order, he would have been willing to stay here.
Listening to Jiang Miao's sigh, thinking of the scene of the people reluctantly bidding him farewell, Pei Che also felt a little sad. This was the first place where he served as an official. No matter how many places he went to in the future, they would never be as impressive as Cangzhou.
The two younger ones were also a little unhappy. In the past three years, they had made many good friends in school. Now that they left, they didn’t know when they would see them again.
The atmosphere in the carriage was a bit depressing for a while. The only one who was unaware was the big black cat, Xiao Baidian. Over the years, it had provoked countless female cats within a ten-mile radius of the Cangzhou government office, and gave birth to many kittens, but when they left, it did not miss them at all, and it was indeed a "bad cat". At this moment, it lay under the table and chair, squinting its eyes, meowing, and fell asleep lazily.
The carriage rocked along for a few days, shaking away the sadness in everyone's hearts. They only hoped to reach Liangjing as soon as possible, so that they would not have to endure the hardship of traveling.
"Brother Miao, how many days will it take to get on the official road?" Pei Mu looked at Xiao Shitou, whose sallow face was lying in the carriage, and couldn't help asking again.
"It will be almost done, just one or two days." Jiang Miao was also very anxious, but he had no way to solve the problem.
When they came here, they took the official road, which was smooth and not bumpy, so Xiao Shitou did not suffer from motion sickness. When they returned to Beijing this time, they heard that a river had burst ahead, flooding the farmland and houses, and the official road leading to Liangjing was naturally flooded.
Jiang Miao and his companions stayed nearby for a few days, spent money to buy food and clothing and gave them to the people who fled from the disaster area. They waited until people from the court came to take over the matter before leaving through another path, bypassing this place along the mountain road and continuing to rush to Liangjing.
As it turned out, the road was bumpy and rugged, not as flat as the official road, and sometimes people had to get off and push it to make it go. After being bumped around for a while, Xiao Shitou immediately got carsick, vomited until he was dizzy, and even when he stopped, he couldn't eat much, and his body looked weaker.
Jiang Miao only hoped to get to the official road as soon as possible, but as if it were not too late, it rained and the sky suddenly darkened as they were on their way. Noon looked like evening, which made people feel uneasy.
It would not have mattered if their carriage had been traveling in the light rain, but the rain had not stopped for a long time, and it was obvious that a storm was brewing. There was also a patient in the carriage, and he would be even more uncomfortable if he got wet in the rain, so it seemed that they had to find a place to take shelter from the rain.
The guard rode forward to explore the way and soon came back. He looked surprised and said, "There is a small path leading up the mountain two miles ahead. There is a temple on the mountain. It should be possible to take shelter from the wind and rain for a while."
Pei Che said: "Then let's hide there."
It only took a while to reach the two-mile road. The mountain road was not narrow, so the carriage went up easily. After walking for a while, the sky was getting darker and darker, and the air was already very humid. It seemed that the rain was about to fall. Jiang Miao was anxious, but he calmed down after lifting the curtain of the carriage. The temple was just a few dozen meters ahead.
When they arrived at the temple gate, a guard came forward and knocked on the door. After only two or three knocks, a voice came from inside: "I'm coming, I'm coming!"
A young novice monk, about fourteen or fifteen years old, opened the temple door, stared at them with a puzzled look, and asked, "Dear donors, are you here to burn incense?"
Jiang Miao said, "Young Master, we are on our way. When we passed by here, we saw that it was going to rain heavily. We also have a sick child, so we wanted to come here to take shelter from the rain. I wonder if you can let us in?"
The young monk looked up at the weather, then at the listless little stone, with a hesitant look on his face. Suddenly, a flash of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a loud bang, which frightened people so much that their legs went limp. The young monk no longer hesitated and immediately said, "Come in quickly!"
A group of people followed him inside. As soon as they reached under the eaves, the heavy rain that had been accumulating in the sky for a long time arrived as expected. The bean-sized raindrops fell like rolling balls. Such rain could soak people in an instant.
The rain was pouring down, and everyone was staring at the continuous rain curtain, feeling thankful.
The young monk said, "My Buddhist name is Yuanxin." "Master Yuanxin, you must have lived here for a long time. I wonder when this rain will stop?" In Jiang Miao's understanding, summer rain usually comes and goes quickly, but this mountain rain has been falling for a long time and the sky is still dark.
"Looking at the rain, it won't stop for a while." Yuan Xin looked at the sky and frowned. "Please wait here for a while. I'll ask the abbot if he can accommodate you for one night. If not, you can leave when the rain subsides."
Jiang Miao said gratefully: "Then I'll have to trouble the young master to ask for us."
The young monk bowed and walked inside. Little Stone looked at his back and asked in a low voice, "Brother, can they agree to let us rest here?" He had suffered a lot along the way. He was scared of the sight of a carriage, and there were few people on this road. He could only rest on the carriage at night. It was not easy to get on a bed, and he didn't want to get on the carriage again.
Jiang Miao knew what he was thinking. Hearing this, he patted his head and said, "This young master is kind-hearted. The abbot should also be compassionate. It would be dangerous to travel in such heavy rain. They will probably agree."
Little Stone groaned and leaned against Jiang Miao without saying anything. He had been feeling unwell recently and had become more clingy than usual. Pei Mu leaned against Jiang Miao's other side, holding Little Stone's hand, his mouth tightly pursed, his eyes full of worry. He didn't want to hurry on his journey, because if he did, Little Stone would get sick.
Fortunately, the abbot of the temple was as compassionate as Jiang Miao said. When he heard that they were trapped by the mountain rain, he not only asked the little monk to clean up the rooms for them, but also sent them several tables of vegetarian meals.
After eating and drinking, Jiang Miao fetched some water to wipe the two children and let them rest first. After such a long journey, the carriage was narrow, and the adults felt uncomfortable, let alone the children.
The two children fell asleep soon after they lay down. Little White Dot curled up beside their pillows and also fell asleep.
Jiang Miao filled the water again and asked Pei Che, who had been silent since entering the temple, to wipe it as well. Pei Che nodded, took the basin and put it aside, wiping it silently, still without saying a word.
Jiang Miao felt strange, thinking that Pei Che looked a little strange. He looked distracted, and no one knew what he was thinking.
"What's wrong with you? You've been feeling strange since you came in. Are you feeling unwell?" Jiang Miao said, and then he reached out to Pei Che's forehead to see if this guy had been hit.
Pei Che grabbed his hand, gently pulled the corner of his mouth, forced a smile, and said: "I'm fine, you go to sleep first."
Jiang Miao raised his eyebrows: "What are you doing? How can I sleep when you look like you have something to do? I advise you to tell me as soon as possible, and don't wait for me to stay up all night with you."
Pei Che sighed helplessly, he knew that what Jiang Miao said was true. He pulled Jiang Miao to lie down together, then turned sideways to face him: "When you came in just now, did you see the words on the plaque on the temple door?"
Jiang Miao shook his head: "I was in a hurry to hide from the rain just now, how could I have the time? What is the name of this temple?"
"Tzu Chi Temple."
"The abbot here is compassionate and helps the world, so this name is appropriate. What's wrong with this name?"
Pei Che said: "I told you about my parents before, do you remember? The temple they vowed to rebuild was called Ciji Temple."
"What?" Jiang Miao sat up suddenly, "You mean, this is the temple they built back then?"
"There are countless people with the same name in this world, and the same should be true for temples, so I'm not too sure." Pei Che sighed again. Even if it was the same name, he still felt a lot of melancholy when he saw it.
"Didn't they tell you the exact location?" Jiang Miao looked confused, not sure what that meant
"My grandmother dismissed the guards at the time and issued a gag order to everyone in the mansion, never allowing anyone who knew the truth to reveal anything. I also inquired about it for a long time, but I couldn't find out anything. She believed that it was an ominous place and was afraid that I would secretly go there to pay homage after hearing about it, and eventually die in a foreign land. Even this Ciji Temple, I only heard about it when the nanny occasionally let it slip."
"No wonder you visited all the temples in Cangzhou. I thought it was because you devoted yourself to Buddhism. So you wanted to find the Tzu Chi Temple?"
"I didn't go looking for it on purpose, but I always had a glimmer of hope in my heart. I didn't expect that there was a providence in the dark, and just hiding from the rain, I would come here. I just don't know if this Tzu Chi Temple is the same Tzu Chi Temple..."
"Isn't this simple?" Jiang Miao said, "We can just ask the abbot of the temple tomorrow and we'll know. They are the ones who donated money to rebuild the temple. There's no reason why the abbot wouldn't remember them, right?"
"Well! I'll go and ask tomorrow morning. If this place is really... I can go and see it myself..." Pei Che's throat tightened and he couldn't say what he wanted to say.
"I'll go with you then." Jiang Miao held Pei Che's hand, hoping to give him some strength to face the past that he couldn't bear to recall.
(End of this chapter)